Bloomberg: 911 System Swamped by Calls

With New York City’s emergency-call system overrun in the midst storm, Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Monday night asked the public not to call 911 save for life-threatening situation and he urged motorists to stay off city roads.

As of Monday night, the 911 system was receiving roughly 10,000 calls per half an hour. The typical volume is 1,000 calls per half an hour.

“Much of this is being driven by non-emergency calls, like people calling to report downed trees or to report non-emergency flooding,” Bloomberg said at a late-night news conference from city’s Office of Emergency Management in Brooklyn. “Please, please, please do not call 911 if it is not a life-threatening emergency,” he said. “You are putting other people’s lives at risk by occupying the lines.”